SVCF Philanthropy Now Podcast

Listen to SVCF Philanthropy Now podcast episodes free, on demand. As the largest community foundation in the world, SVCF engages donors and corporations from Silicon Valley, across the country and around the globe to make our region and world better for all. With our podcast series, we explore trends in the world of philanthropy, social impact initiatives in Silicon Valley and beyond, and how SVCF promotes innovative philanthropic solutions to challenging problems. Tune in, subscribe, and for more about SVCF, visit siliconvalleycf.org.

In episode 7, Bert Feuss (Senior vice president of investments) and Sue McAllister (marketing director) discuss SVCF's efforts to increase the number of minority and women investment managers at SVCF. Because SVCF values inclusion and diversity in all aspects of our business, we had to take a hard look at our investment practices and acknowledge that there was room for improvement.

Bert and Sue talk about why this effort has been such a great success, including increased investment in communities that other investment managers overlook. They walk us through the process of hiring consultants and finding talented women- and minority-owned investment managers — and they look at the excellent results we've had so far. Bert and Sue also discuss steps that other nonprofits or foundations can take to increase diversity in the hiring process.

SVCF and other organizations have implemented a "ban the box" policy for hiring. Removing the checkbox inquiring about applicants' criminal history is intended to make hiring more inclusive for people who have had interactions with the criminal justice system.

Gina D. Dalma (SVCF’s vice president of government relations) and Daiva Natochy (SVCF’s vice president of talent, recruitment and culture) talk about how unequal treatment by the criminal justice system often puts young people of color and those in lower socioeconomic classes at a disadvantage, because they are more likely to have had interactions with law enforcement. Gina and Daiva highlight research that demonstrates the effectiveness of banning the box and discuss why it's so important to welcome those with criminal histories into our organizations and businesses.

Welcome to Episode 5, in which Maeve Miccio, SVCF’s vice president of corporate responsibility, interviews Director of Corporate Responsibility Liz Lipton-McCombie. Maeve and Liz discuss SVCF's efforts to support startups and large companies alike in their efforts to strengthen social responsibility.

SVCF recently completed a report called “Starting with Purpose: How Startups can Use Social Responsibility to Deliver Purpose and Profit.” Our goal was to provide a comprehensive resource for companies that plan to integrate social responsibility and philanthropy into their work, through volunteering, charitable giving, and other efforts. Maeve and Liz give us an overview of how the report was compiled, some of the most interesting discoveries, and some actionable takeaways.